New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-10-17
EOPCE IS no REMEDY.
ton.

"Forco is no remedy" an English statesman
observed of the Government policy III Ireland
Force is no remedy" echoes the pubic opin-
ion of America when Irish affairs are IN qucS-
ton Yet there are Americans who white
holding that this is true in regard to Ireland
accept for application to their own country
the contrary declaration that force Is 4 remedy
and pin their faith on the practicab1Ity OF
making men vrtuous by act of the LcgISlat-
urc Prohibition is just this violation OF
sound craftsmanship philosophy and econ
omics 1t has been squarcly tested, ana allci
thirty wears full trial in the State Of It's adop-
ton its most earnest advocates are compelled
to admit that it has not succeeded WIN
curious inconsistency they cite It's lallure III
Maine as a special reason for extending the
principle. Now the drink evil is so palpaDlc
and so mischcvous that when pubic con
science is aroused on it nothing is more natural
than that the first and most sweeping remedies
suggested should be looked on with favor
Thus the earlier movements on behalf OF pro-
hibtion are honorable to their projectors and
proofs of public spirit But when experiment
has demonstrated the futility of the supposed
panacca it is not sign of wisdom that ITS
application should still be insisted on.
Prohibition has not succeeded in Maine
Has if succeeded in Kansas and Iowa? In the
first of these States it is notorious that the
retail vending Of drink has been transferred
from the saloon to the drug store. 10 stop
this Draconian laws have been enacted, and
as a result Of these monstrous statutes poor
drug-clcrk was the other day sentenced to
seventeen years Imprisonment and five thou
sand dollars fine for selling whiskcy. II IS time
the American people realized what such pen
allies mean. In State where they are possible
the most vital guarantees Of the Constitution
must have been ovcrriddcn by a fanaticiSm as
reckless, cruel and tyrannical as the worst
Old World despOtism. Personal liberty Is
lost when such outrageous punishmcnts are
localized, and that implies submission to i'm
positions and wrongs subsection to which VIII
soon destroy the spirit and manhood OF the
ncoplc. Look next at Iowa, where prohibl-
lion has had its own way. 1t is significant
that at Des Moincs recently 500 leading men
Joined in solemn protest against the MAIN
tcnance of the alleged temperance policy.
WHY? Because it has been shown In Iowa
that the laws which arc drawn TO make pro-
hbition cocrcive, drastic and not to be escaped
mt such power in the hands OF lawlcss OK
ccutjve officers that there is more liberty, more
freedom from espionage, in Moscow or 81
Petersburg during Nihilist panic than in The
cities and villages of that American State
under the prohibition regime. 1t is only
necessary TO mention the names OF u. W.
Potts and Frank Pierce to kindic the indlgna-
ton of an Iowan. Domciliary visits, icgaliAcd
bonsebreakinc, intrusion into the family sanct-
uary and the infection OF insults ana ou'rasc'
such as even the Austnans In Italy never
dared to venture upon, have been the outcome
of the statutes intended TO suppress the drink
evil.
Nature expelled returns another way
Where it has been found possible to stop the